Adverisements in Search Results

I made DuckDuckGo my default browser and search engine a year ago, fearing what would happen if Google ended up as the only browser and the only search engine. It seemed to work fine; gave much the same results as Google. I was quite satisfied.

I did not notice anything wrong till I come over to Mexico two months ago. Then I noticed that with every search there were some nonsense results (advertisements) at the top of the list of 'relevant finds'.  A very typical results was obtained when I searched for "King Henry the eighth". I got:

[1] "Compra Henry king - Sitio oficial de Amazon.com.mx 

Millones de productos de México y EEUU. Pago con tarjeta, efectivo y vales de despensa. Devoluciones en un plazo de 30 días a partir de la entrega para un reembolso total."

[2] "eBay Official Site - Henry Viii Books On eBay 

Looking For Henry Viii Books? We Have Almost Everything On eBay. But Did You Check eBay? Check Out Henry Viii Books On eBay. Under $10 · Money Back Guarantee · Daily Deals · Buy It Now Available Types: Fashion, Motors, Electronics, Sporting Goods, Toys"

Both were marked 'AD', I suppose admitting that they were advertisements. The third entry was Wikipedia. 

I admit that advertising is not my special subject. And I have heard phrases like "There is no such thing as 'bad publicity'." I also admit that these advertisements draw attention to the extraordinary range of products available from those two websites. 

However, their time-wasting arrogance annoys me. I would suggest to those two companies that these adverts might be counter-productive. And also to the DuckDuckGo search-engine. I must check when I get back to England –– does the same irritating nonsense occur back home? Perhaps not. At any rate I never noticed it. 

Remembering Guillermo Tovar de Teresa

 Remembering Guillermo Tovar de Teresa

    Guillermo Tovar y de Teresa, as Wikipedia will explain, was, at the age of 13, adviser to the President of Mexico on the subject of Baroque Paintings. So, a child prodigy. He was born in Mexico City 1956, of a well-off family (indeed of several such families), self-taught to a high level in art and culture and a noted collector; he died in 2013 aged 57. I bought on impulse a copy of his posthumous Historia de México: Tomo I (1519-1761), a strange collections of essays and remarks put together by his loyal family and published February 2025. 
    When I learnt that the family home (Valladolid 52, Colonia Roma Norte, Mexico City) had been made into a 'Guillermo Tovar de Teresa Museum' we decided to visit. It was a pleasant walk of 3.4 Km through tree-lined avenues and streets known to my companion since childhood.
    The house, a substantial two-storied town house (c. 1900) with basement, living floor and roof-terrace enclosing a gorgeous, small courtyard garden open to the sky, filled with ivy, ferns, tree-ferns, trees, rocky stairs, and mirrors.
    A gallery runs round the garden and most of the living quarters lead off the gallery. There is a narrow adjoining space for a garage, converted now to a tiny slip of a café run by young members of the family.    

    Following the prescribed route as best we could, we strolled through a chain of small, ill-lit, rooms, crammed with sulphur-darkened pictures (or prints) and religious sculptures, but found nothing that caught my eyes for a second glance. 

    Out on the street we noticed the adjoining café and ventured in. Behind a small bar at the entrance a barman greeted us, but that was immediately followed up by a much more arresting figure who bustled up. Young, a touch below median height, slight build, strikingly dark hair and eyes, wearing a generously long black coat, which barely revealed his elegantly-pointed snake-skin boots.  His effusive welcome gave us the strong impression that he was part of the family and that this was his terrain and his rôle. At one of the small square tables that ranged down the narrow and chilly ravine, the high walls of which prevented the warmth of the sun from penetrating, sat two well-wrapped young women, chatting over glasses of 'mimosa'. Our gracious host, job done, went and joined the ladies who thus also appeared as 'members of the family'. We chose Quiche Lorraine and glasses of tinto de verano. 

    The waiter brought toast on a wooden board to one of the ladies, who proceeded to describe it while the young man of the elegant boots filmed her on his mobile phone. Later he paused at our table and chatted awhile, confirming and adding to our speculations. (He kindly offered to search for Historia de México: Tomo II (1761-1988) for me. His courtesy and elegance were (for me) the high-point of the visit.)

    I think the most interesting thing about 'Guillermo Tovar de Teresa' is the spell he appears to have cast over his whole family; siblings, nephews and nieces. 

    As we headed home up Calle Sinaloa, we passed a vacant lot on which nothing remained of the vanished house except some glazed tiles. It amused me to wonder if my companion had known the occupant seventy years earlier. At that very moment she pointed across the street to a substantial house of the old style and told me that a lady had lived there who had been very kind to her grandmother when the family had lost their (two) Durango haciendas in the wake of the 1910-20 revolution.

    A few yards further up the street the wheezy yet piercing whistle of a man selling hot camotes (yams) brought back memories, for I had often heard him in the street outside our apartment, but had never seen him. Here he was in action, a plume of smoke issuing from the chimney as his boiler built us pressure for another wheezy whistle. 

    And so home, to count up our kilometers, and to reflect on fame, revolution, grandparents, snake-skin boots and the making of memories. 

 Méxicas & Narcos

Last week, when I had finished reading the classic Chinese novel "The Monkey" (by Wu Cheng-En; c. 1550, translated 1942 by Arthur Waley), I bought the "Historia de México; tomo I, (1519 - 1761)", a collection of essays and rumination on the subject by Guillermo Torva de Teresa. I learned that the Méxica tribe (i.e. the Aztecs) rose to power and wealth in the 14th century principally by extorting tribute from their neighbouring tribes – e.g. the Tlaxcala, Teotitlan, Mixteca, and Zapoteca – in a well-organised and well-documented system. The Méxica did grow their own food and they traded both near and far, but their extraordinary wealth derived from this tribute, and thus from extortion. 

Each tribe or region had to deliver what was requested. If too much was requested, they might rebel (and periodically did so), but that meant war, and defeat, slavery and human sacrifice. According to the complicated religious system imposed by the priests, the human sacrifices were necessary to maintain stability. And this claim was not without basis and, indeed, proof. The horror inspired by the blood-letting overawed everyone from the emperor down through the ranks of the elite, to the peasants and the slaves.

The killing of sacrificial victims was common practice in other early societies. Witness, Iphigenia and Isaac as two proposed victims from the ancient Greek and Arabic worlds respectively. And, from the world of medieval China, I read that one of Monkey's tasks (on the road to India to bring back Buddhist scriptures) was to save a village from the scourge of providing a boy and a girl sacrifice each year to an extortionist daemon (in truth an angry goldfish that had escaped from the fishpond of the Bodhisattva 'Kuan-yin'). 

All very scary, I thought; and how glad I am that we have put such things behind us. The scriptures arrived, and human societies learnt the sin of killing for profit. That is to say, most civilised societies. For extortion under threat of death is exactly what is happening in large parts of present-day Mexico (See my recent post and the map quoted.). 

So, even today the real threat of violence does lead to wealth, and to a sort of insidious 'stability', for the use of bribes brings a great number of people in the class of 'those who profit indirectly from extortion and the threat of violence'. What a perilously thin membrane divides the civilised from the uncivilised! What a dilemma: to fight them or to join them?

European counter-proposal on Ukraine

  Today (Monday 24th November), there were two encouraging developments towards a resolution of the Ukrainian/Russian conflict.

[1] A US/Ukraine joint statement put out 23rd Nov by the 'Office of the First Lady'.
"Both sides agreed the consultations were highly productive. The discussions showed meaningful progress toward aligning positions and identifying clear next steps. They reaffirmed that any future agreement must fully uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty and deliver a sustainable and just peace. As a result of the discussions, the parties drafted an updated and refined peace framework.
The Ukrainian delegation reaffirmed its gratitude for the steadfast commitment of the United States and, personally, President Donald J. Trump for their tireless efforts aimed at ending the war and the loss of life.
    Ukraine and the United States agreed to continue intensive work on joint proposals in the coming days. They will also remain in close contact with their European partners as the process advances.
Final decisions under this framework will be made by the Presidents of Ukraine and the United States.
Both sides reiterated their readiness to continue working together to secure a peace that ensures Ukraine’s security, stability, and reconstruction."

[2] Reuters published (24th Nov.) the full text of the counter-proposal, drafted by Europe's E3 powers (Britain, France and Germany,) This counter proposal takes as its basis the 28-point U.S. plan (Seen by Reuters on Sunday 23rd),  but then goes through it point by point with suggested changes (and deletions). This, among other things, raises the size of the permitted peace-time Ukrainian army from 600,000 to 800,000, and adds detail to the way the reconstruction of Ukraine is to be financed.  

   This may annoy President Trump, but it may also add some constructive ideas on details of financing Ukrainian reconstruction. 

Trump's Plan for Ukraine

 Trump's Plan for Ukraine

President Trump's proposed plan for ending the conflict between Russia and Ukraine seems, to Ukraine and its European sympathisers, to be too biased in favour of Russia. 

Ukraine has to vacate territory, Russia  does not. Ukraine has to limit its armed forces, Russia does not. Russia started the war, Ukraine did not.

The draft plan [Ref1] proposes that Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk will be recognised as de facto Russian. This is ambiguous. The Charter of the United Nations is clear that it is no longer possible to conquer territory by force of arms. I do not think anyone could object to recognising certain territories including Crimea as being occupied by Russia, pending elections. That would simply recognise the fact of occupation. It would not confer 'ownership', nor any other legal rights or status.  

(Indeed the idea of ownership seems very odd in the context of states and territory. At least to those of us so lucky as to have been brought up under the principle of democracy; it is surely up to the people of Donetsk and Luhansk, not up to Putin, Trump or Zelensky, to decide whether (in the long term) they want to be part of Russia, or part of Ukraine. Russia should woo those people with cultural benefits, rather than by blowing out their windows with high explosives. )

The plan contains suggested forward commitments regarding Ukraine's membership of NATO and the European Union. These may be more sensible than the terms discussed above.  In the sort term, it does seem unacceptable to Russia to have NATO suddenly on its door-step.  That must be recognised. I have previously discussed the possibility that NATO could "guarantee" the independence of Ukraine without stationing troops on Ukrainian soil [Ref2]. 

There is nothing in Ukraine's dramatic gesture of rushing to fight with its giant neighbour that makes it incumbent on NATO to come to its aid. The power of NATO probably lies in the nuclear arsenal of the United States; the troops and the money may come from Europe, but the ultimate sanction is almost entirely in the hands of the 'gringos'.  If the US does not wish to use its weapons agains Russia it will not do so. 

On the other hand, if Europe does want to use its strength (economic and military) against an encroaching and bullying Russia, it should aim to prevail, and not just ring its hands and talk. The question of a European defence force may arise again, as it did before, but with far greater urgency [Ref3]  It is often argued that the best way to maintain peace is to prepare for war – and be very clear about one's own red lines and those of one's neighbours. 

References

[Ref1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cde6yld78d6o

[Ref2] https://occidentis.blogspot.com/2025/03/no-nato-boots-in-ukraine.html 

[Ref3] https://ecfr.eu/article/the-four-pillars-of-european-defence/

Carlos Manzo

Carlos Manzo – the Murdered Mayor of Mitchoacán

     It seems that, in more than half of Mexico, the forces of law and order are powerless to protect the population against the drug cartels who, by intimidation and the very real threat of death, extort "protection money" from small businesses and private citezens. The British Government advises its citizens against all but essential travel, in orange areas on the map below, and to take care in other areas also.

Map

     On the evening of Saturday 1st November, the mayor of  Uruapan (the second largest city in the State of Mitchoacán (Mexico) was shot dead while having his photograph taken with a bunch of children. He, Carlos Manzo, a man of 40 with a wife and young two children, had stepped forward the previous year to challenge this regime of intimidation and extortion,  by which the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) terrorises and extorts money from the populations in his state. In August 2025 local police, at Manzo’s request, had arrested the cartel's regional boss, René Belmonte. Manzo's assassination seems to have been in retaliation.  Was he scared? Sure! “I don’t want to be just another mayor on the list of those executed, those whose lives have been taken from them”. [Ref1]

     The Federal President, Claudia Sheinbaum has inherited the view of her predecessor, that directly combatting the cartels has been tried before and is counterproductive. "There would be no return to the war on drugs"  [Ref2].  On Monday 3rd November, Sheinbaum told reporters “Returning to the war against el narco is not an option, México already did that, and the violence got worse.” [Ref3]

     The gunman was a 17-year old amphetamine addict, regarded as belonging to the Jalisco cartel. But the gunman was not alone. He was gunned down instantly by the mayor's bodyguard, and tested positive for gunshot residues, but two 'accomplices' are in custody. 

     Within days, Grecia Quiroz, Manzo’s widow, put herself forward to replace her husband and was sworn in before the State Congress on Wednesday 5th November to succeed her husband as mayor. “They killed Carlos Manzo, but they couldn’t kill what he awakened,” said Quiroz. She speaks well to the crowds, and to the camera, and has aroused enormous sympathy. She is seen as a possible candidate for the Governorship of the State of Mitchoacán when the post is again vacant in 2027 [Ref4].  

     If she has not been shot. 

     On 15 November, protests in Mexico City requesting a stiffer response to the narco intimidation led to clashes with police. There have been calls for further demonstrations on 20 November near the Zócalo and the Palacio Nacional. The UK government advises travelers in Mexico to monitor local media, and to stay away from demonstrations.

Wisdom and Age

                             Wisdom and Age

Long after I had resigned my Fellowship at Clare College and taken a lecturship at Newcastle University, I was enjoying the privileges of an ex-fellow and lunching again with the fellows at college.  (Ex-fellows are surprisingly rare; fellows tend to 'stay on' if they possibly can.) Remembering college protocol, I took the next available seat at the common board, and found myself sitting next to the Master, Professor Robin Matthews.

How he had aged! I remembered the occasion of his appointment 12 year previously, under the  chairmanship of the elderly Professor Godwin (though with the acute and generous mind of Charles Feinstein at his elbow). There was none of the back-stabbing and shadowy machinations described in C. P. Snow's "The Masters".  We first laid down the principle that the new master should be aged 50 years or over, to avoid the burden of having a 'dud' chairing the governing body for too long a spell. Nevertheless, the name of Robin Matthews drifted to the top of the list of 'possibles', even though he was only 49. Here he was, now 12 years on, looking 70. I wondered briefly if he was suffering some curious condition that caused accelerated aging. 

Demonstrating his mastery of college table-talk, he turned to me, perhaps to show that he recognised me and remembered that I was a biologist, and he asked: "You are a biologist. I have been wondering if Homo sapiens is the only species that lives so long after ceasing to be reproductively active." I was simultaneously grateful and taken aback. Was he also aware that he was aging? I tried to reassure him, by suggesting that, if indeed 'Man' was unusual in that regard, it might point to the evolutionary advantage of wisdom; that we were a species that benefited from, and cherished, our grandfathers and grandmothers.  

Is there a Wisdom of Age? A special brand of wisdom. Perhaps like a collection of prized pebbles that a traveller picks up along the way, increased as much by the miles travelled as by the vigilance and curiosity of the traveller. 

I have recently acquired a few tricks that are peculiarly relevant to an aging mind, like writing things down, and paying special attention when I handle small but crucial objects like keys and mobile-phones. I have also evolved a new way of finding lost objects as an adaptation to weakening eyesight. For seventy years I enjoyed the role of family-finder. I could enter a room and sweep visually from two or three vantages, and spot the missing object before anyone else. Now the visual sweep yields nothing. I have to sit down and think where it was last used, think where it would be hard to see if it were in fact present, (Perhaps under something, or camouflaged; as a white pill on a pale carpet). But these are hardly 'special powers'; they are mere 'sticking-plasters' to make good my deficits.

On the other hand, I have evolved quite recently my own way of suppressing a cough. (You must, yourself, at some time have experienced the agony of struggling with a cough during a concert?) A lozenge offers some relief, as also a sip of water. But my new method require no equipment. The cough in question is the 'dry cough', the unproductive cough that seems to do nothing for the 'cougher', but to be solely to the benefit of the virus and its progeny. I was intrigued during the COVID pandemic by the idea that the virus had found out how to trigger the cough reflex for its own purposes, and I think I found a possible (even probable) mechanism. (See my post) However, my discovery of a way to thwart the virus owed nothing to that research. It was discovered by pure serendipity.  I put my hand loosely over my nose and mouth, perhaps with the idea of containing the cloud of virions, and than breathed partly through my mouth. I was surprised to find that the compulsion to cough faded to nothing in 30 seconds. I suppose in the space confined by my hand the air became enriched in CO2 and water vapour, and a little impoverished of O2; that may have affected the pH of the surface layers in the throat but, as long as it works, the mechanism does not matter, except for the curious among us. 

I have tried to interest others in this trick, purely from a love of mankind, but do not think I have made many converts to date. That does not worry me (unduly); I am able to enjoy the benefits in my own small way.  This, I think, qualifies as 'wisdom of age', one of the benefits of living beyond the period of reproductive activity. 

Another recent discovery which I am inclined to regard as an example of the 'wisdom of age' is my new method of drinking wine. This, also, as a life-long educator and philanthropist, I am keen to share. That you know how I came by this new method is unimportant. But I am inclined to tell you that it was as much to do with my health as my pocket book. Ever since my brief experience of exercise-induced angina pectoris at the age of 75 (see my post), the doctors have been asking me annually to declare the average number of units of alcohol drunk per week. As I had a small German 'tasting glass' marked '100ml' just below the rim, I resolved to limit my intake of alcohol to 100 ml of red-wine at lunch and the same again with my evening dinner. Essentially 2 bottles a week. That discipline brought its own rewards (smugness, largely) but that is not my present point. For I discovered that, by taking tiny sips, I got just as much gustatory pleasure as I had found with decent gulps of wine. I can now sip away at 100ml of wine for the best part of an hour. 

We had a young man and his mother round for a glass of wine and a chat the other day. I was astonished how quickly his glass required topping up. So much so that I found it more convenient to park the bottle his side of the table. As they were leaving, I shared my new tip; "small sips are as rewarding as large gulps." Another example of an old man's wisdom. 

        A further tip I would like to pass on is my unique 'neck-scarf'. I often used to wear a tie, but found that I was becoming a rare species in that regard. Furthermore, that my shirt-collars frayed rather quickly from rubbing against the short hairs on my neck (and perhaps also from the scrubbing required to clean the neckband). I tried tying a silk handkerchief round my neck but could not find one sufficiently large. So I bought a metre off a bolt of polyester(**) lining material; indeed one in green and one in blue. This is a slippery, shiny, hard-wearing material that can be washed and drip-dried inside 2 hours. I cut strips 25 cms x 100 cms, then turned and hemmed the edges. Tie under the chin with a half-hitch, before or after putting on the shirt, but before buttoning the penultimate button. (Leave the highest button undone.) So simple! It is pleasing and comfortable to wear, beside closing the gap between shirt and neck. I am seldom dressed any other way these days. 

(**Beware: this material requires a very cool iron.)